1 Onam
People put new garments and buy desserts for celebrating Onam. They devote the celebrations of this fest to their regarded King Mahabali. The Onam feast is known as “Sadhya.” local Songs, Traditional Kerala Dance, Sports, Boat Race, Elephants parade, are the parts of Onam festivities. At certain places, people participate in short plays and productions and depict the Story of King Mahabali along with Lord Vishnu.
2 Pongal
When India and her celebrations are talked about, there is a single point that goes without mentioning, and that is unity in diversity. The festivals across India are a mark of the feature of unity in diversity. Across the whole of India, that time of harvest is important economically and culturally and socially. This is why different parts of India have different harvest festivals.
The festival of Pongal is a cultural product that marks the prosperity that comes in the harvest. Celebrating freshly harvested crops can appear weird to the world, but for a country like India, it is more than important. Pongal spread over three days, and each day has it’s name-bhogi, surya, mattu. Interestingly, Pongal, as much as a festival, also includes the preparation of a sweet dish called Pongal prepared with freshly harvested rice as a sweet dish.
3 Dussehra
Dussehra is one of the most well-known and highly celebrated holidays in India. Even though it is a Hindu festival but in a secular country like India, people from various religions enjoy themselves in a united way. On Dussehra, the streets are decorated with bright lights, and songs are played from loudspeakers that come from all directions and mix to create beautiful chaos along with the voices and cheers of the people who crowd the street to have a good time. Delicious roadside street foods and small souvenirs are sold by vendors during the ten days of Navratri.
On Dussehra, maximum trade occurs because everyone wants to enjoy the last day of that festival and holiday. But India is a country where festivals are frequent, and every year the end of Autumn and Winter observes most of these festivals. Therefore on Vijayadashami, which is celebrated on the same day as Dussehra in Bengal and Orissa, people might be bidding goodbye to Maa Durga but only to welcome Maa Kaali and celebrate Diwali just after two weeks.
4 Bihu
bihu is a festival of farming community whose livelihood is mainly dependent upon the agriculture. The festival of bihu is celebrated by one and all in Assam. The boundaries of rich or poor, cast creed etc are diminished in the dazzling light of joy and merriment. Thethree Bihus are celebrated at different times of year, in the months of Bohaag (Baisakhi), Kaati (Kartik) and Maagh, according to Hindu calendar.As per modern calendar these days fall in the month of mid April, October/ November and early January.
Assam is a small state in the north-eastern part of the country. Its economy is mainly based on agriculture. The inhabitants of Assam are knownagrarians from ages. Hence all their daily activities and celebrations are agriculture oriented only. Bihu is also one of such festivals. It is very much evident from the months of celebration of this festival that these months areactually significant in relation with farming of native crop of Assam, the paddy. Bohaag bihu is celebrated at the seeding time of paddy. Kaati bihu is celebrated when the sowing of paddy is complete and the transformation of the saplings is done. Maagh bihu represents the culmination of the harvesting period of the crop.
The word bihu is derived from the language of ‘dimasa kacharis’, which is the agricultural community of Assam, since ages. The word wasoriginally ‘Bishu’, which meant ‘to ask for prosperity’ from the tribal god. Bihu is the distorted version of Bishu.
Bohaag bihu is also known as Rongali bihu and celebrated with the highest joy and mirth among all the three bihus. As stated it is the commencement time of the new season of farming. But along with, Bohaag is the first month according to Assamese calendar. Hence it is also celebrated as the New Year festival. This period also marks the transition in the seasonal cycle and people greet the coming season of spring with enthusiasm. Rongali bihu is celebrated over a period of 7 days. There are various phases and significance of the respective 7 days of the bihu. The first day is known as goru bihu (cows are washed and worshipped). This is followed by manuha bihu (human beings take early day bath and wear newattire). Then on third day deities are worshipped and washed. Hence the festival stretches over a span of time and the celebrations culminate by bidding adieu to bihu on the last day of festival.
Kati bihu is also known as kongali bihu. It is celebrated with solidarity. However, the celebrations are quietest of all the three bihus. The farmers are busy in their paddy fields and earthen lamps are lit to mark the celebrations. Farmers pray for a better crop during this time ofthe farming cycle.
Maagh bihu is also known as Bhogaali bihu. Bhogalli means eating and enjoyment. Hence thename itself implies the mood of the festival. Menfolk prepare cottages in the barren fields after harvesting of the crops and spend whole night while singing and dancing in communion. Delicious food and sweets are exchanged among the people. In the very next morning, the cottage is lit up in fire and this brings an end to yearly festival of bihu.
5 Diwali
The festival of lights Diwali has been around for a long time. According to Hindu mythology, Lord Rama returned home to Ayodhya on this day after killing the demon king Ravana. Upon the arrival of their king, the residents of Ayodhya lighted the streets and houses with oil lamps to celebrate the occasion. Since then, the Hindus have been following the tradition by celebrating the festival with pomp and fervor. It is easily the favorite festival for kids as they get to eat their favorite sweets and wear new clothes.
The festival teaches us that good always wins over evil and that we must eradicate darkness with light. A festive atmosphere can be seen during Diwali in every Indian household. Everyone is busy cleaning houses, preparing sweets, or lighting up lamps. A religious ceremony usually precedes the celebrations in the evening.
